Kazakhstan Set to Raise Shipments Through BTC Pipeline Following CPC Disruption

Kazakhstan will increase oil exports through the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline in December after the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) reduced capacity following a Ukrainian drone attack, Orda.kz reports, citing Reuters.

CPC briefly suspended operations after a mooring device was damaged at the terminal near Novorossiysk. Loading has resumed but is now taking place through only one operational berth, while the third terminal remains under repair and is being serviced at an accelerated pace.

Of these, 170,000 tons will go to Tengizchevroil and 18,000 to Kashagan.

However, the route's capacity is limited by the capacity of the Aqtau port and the quality requirements for the mixture, Reuters reports.

The Russian system is currently overloaded due to strikes on refineries and export infrastructure, leaving almost no room for additional volumes.

Tengizchevroil resumed exports through the BTC pipeline in November. The company had suspended shipments earlier because of elevated organic chloride levels in the Azerbaijani blend. In October, KazMunayGas Head Askhat Khasenov said Kazakhstan was negotiating to increase BTC shipments to 2.2 million tons in 2026. 

This year’s volume is about 1.2 million tons.

Kazakhstan's oil is transported from Aqtau to Baku by tanker — mainly from the Tengiz and Kashagan fields — and then shipped through the BTC pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

Earlier, unmanned boats attacked a Caspian Pipeline Consortium facility near Novorossiysk. The strike hit a single-point mooring (SPM), halting loading and prompting the evacuation of tankers from the area. There were no leaks, but one berth remains inoperative. CPC noted that this is the third such incident.

Kazakhstan protested to Ukraine, saying the strike harmed bilateral relations. Kyiv responded that its actions were “aimed at weakening the aggressor's military-industrial potential.”

Kazakhstani experts described the attack on CPC as damaging to the country’s economy. They noted that the pipeline transports more than 80% of Kazakhstan’s oil exports, generating roughly $30 billion annually. 

Original Author: Ruslan Loginov